Cybersitter has accused the Chinese of government of using pirated software in its controversial Internet censorship program known as ‘The Great Firewall of China’.

The US software maker has filed a lawsuit worth $US2.2 billion ($NZ2.9 billion) following allegations that the firewall program, which is compulsory for all non-government computers in China, contains stolen Cybersitter code which is being used to block Chinese citizens’ access to Web sites deemed inappropriate by the Chinese government.

The company has also named two Chinese software markers and seven different computer manufacturers in the lawsuit.